by P.D. Lesko

Download and read the October 10, 2024 settlement agreement between former Council member Zachary Ackerman and the City of Ann Arbor.

MLive first reported that former Ann Arbor City Council Zachary Ackerman had received a $50,000 payout from the City of Ann Arbor in Oct. 2024, because he’d applied for a job in the Ann Arbor Housing Commission, and subsequently a “verbal” job offer had been extended to him by a “high level.” In addition, Ackerman had been led to believe that he would be able to work for the City of Ann Arbor while continuing to live in California through an arrangement that included remote work combined with regular in-person visits. City officials declined to identify who the “high level” individual was. The Ann Arbor Independent submitted a public record request to obtain a copy of the settlement agreement signed by Ackerman. The agreement revealed the “high level” individual is Jennifer Hall, the Exec. Dir. of the Ann Arbor Housing Commission.

When asked by MLive for a comment about the Ackerman settlement, Hall declined to speak on the record. Ann Arbor City Administrator Milton Dohoney reportedly said that Ackerman was told from a “high level” that he would be hired by the Housing Commission. Jennifer Hall has been the Exec. Dir. of the Ann Arbor Housing Commission since Nov. 2011.

The Housing Commission’s Exec. Dir. Jennifer Hall oversaw recruitment efforts for a housing and economic development manager position. A job posting online that has since been removed shows a $100,000 to $120,000 salary range for the position.

Zachary Ackerman served on Ann Arbor City Council from 2015 to 2020, but after a 2019 DUI arrest chose not to run for re-election. He presently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Ackerman told MLive.com “he left a higher-paying position” after being told he would be hired to work at the Ann Arbor Housing Commission. Ackerman worked at a company called Cottage and left that job “upon belief he had landed the job with the Housing Commission, only to end up unemployed after being told he could not work remotely. He wasn’t in a position to move back to Ann Arbor.”

The Ann Arbor Independent also submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for a copy of the job posting, Ackerman’s job application materials, as well as the applications of all of the other candidates who applied for the position with the Ann Arbor Housing Commission for which Ackerman says he was told he’d be hired.

In an October 2024 post to his Linkedin page, Ackerman wrote, “This is my last week at Cottage.” Ackerman went on to write: “What’s next? Well, I’ve been working two jobs and going to school since I was 18. I’m excited to take some personal time to finish a long-overdue novel, re-learn Spanish, and cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner for Alison Ackerman [his wife].”

The settlement agreement purports Hall is not an employee of the City of Ann Arbor, but Hall’s Linkedin page shows she is a City employee. It was Hall who exceeded her authority in offering the job to Ackerman and telling him he could live in California and work remotely.

The settlement included a $50,000 payment and the agreement states, “WHEREAS, The Parties dispute whether Candidate reasonably relied on a verbal offer of employment from the Executive Director who did not, in fact, have such authority to make an offer;”

The Oct. 10, 2024 settlement agreement also states, “In consideration of the promises and the release of all claims set forth in this Agreement, the City will pay Candidate a one-time $50,000 lump sum payment. Payment will be made within 30 days of the full execution of this Agreement.”

Former Ward 4 Council member Elizabeth Nelson submitted a Jan. 15, 2024 FOIA request in which she has asked the City to turn over “all written communications including emails and text messages and any phone records to or from City employees or elected Council Members and the Mayor regarding the $50,000 payment to Zachary Ackerman made from the Community Development budget for Legal Services (check number 209748, dated October 11, 2024). Additionally, a request for all written records from January 1, 2024 to October 31, 2024 (documents, emails, and text messages) that include ‘RCD’ or ‘rcdhousing.org’ or ‘Resources for Community Development’ or ‘Ackerman.'”

Nelson submitted a second FOIA in which she requested: “…all emails and text messages sent or received from Jennifer Hall, Ulli Raak, Weneshia Brand, Arin Yu, Christopher Taylor, Milton Dohoney, Sara Higgins, Anahi Trujillo, Brittani Marshall, Rochelle Lento, Monica Boote, Darren McKinnon, and Tom Pierce that include any one of the terms: Ackerman, Zach, Zack, Zachary, or the phrase ‘Director of Housing and Economic Development’ during the time period July 1 through October 31, 2024.”

Ackerman told MLive the payment was nice as he had quit a job at Cottage, but that he had not threatened a lawsuit.

Finally, the settlement agreement required Ackerman to shred copies of confidential documents: “Candidate agrees that he will not retain and will take affirmative steps to identify, collect and confidentially shred any and all copies of any City or Ann Arbor Housing Commission documents acquired through the recruitment and hiring process. Candidate also agrees that he will never disclose or otherwise divulge, furnish, or make accessible to anyone, any confidential information, knowledge or data of the City or Ann Arbor Housing Commission, including information about any current or future development projects, or that of its customers, residents, and any other information designated by the City and/or Ann Arbor Housing Commission as confidential.”

Why an applicant for any job would have been handed confidential documents or been provided with confidential information during the hiring process, raises more questions about Jennifer Hall’s oversight of the process.